Georges Ibrahim Abdallah launches three-day hunger strike in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners

The Lebanese Arab struggler for Palestine, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, in his 33rd year of imprisonment in French prisons, announced from Lannemezan prison on Monday, 24 April that beginning on Monday and going for three days, he will launch a hunger strike in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners.

He will be joined in the strike by his Basque comrades in Lannemezan prison as well as several Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian fellow prisoners inside the jail.

Approximately 1,500 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails have been engaged in a collective hunger strike launched on 17 April. Today, they begin their second week of hunger strike for a series of demands, including an end to the denial of family visits, proper medical treatment for Palestinian prisoners and an end to solitary confinement and administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial.

Leaders of the strike, including Marwan Barghouthi, Karim Younis, Kamil Abu Hanish, Anas Jaradat and Wajdi Jawdat, have been thrown into solitary confinement in Jalameh prison while nearly across the board, Palestinian hunger strikers are being denied family visits, legal visits and are subject to abusive raids and inspections at all hours.

Imprisoned since 1984 in French prisons, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah is a Lebanese Communist Arab struggler for Palestine, imprisoned in French jails for 32 years despite being eligible for release since 1999. The US, Israeli and French states have come together to attempt to block all efforts to secure his freedom. He has previously launched hunger strikes in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners, including last year’s 71-day hunger strike by Palestinian prisoner Bilal Kayed, ordered to administrative detention (imprisonment without charge or trial) after the expiration of his 14.5 year sentence.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes Georges Ibrahim Abdallah and his imprisoned comrades for their tremendous action of solidarity behind bars, once again underlining Abdallah’s role as a leader in the Palestinian prisoners’ movement and his undiminished commitment to struggle despite decades behind bars. Victory and freedom for Georges Abdallah and all Palestinian prisoners!